The Sound of White
by Lamington
Summary: When Gibbs' daughter arrives from Australia after an 11 year separation. It turns out that she is holding on to some capped anger, which she directs at her father and asks the question he abandoned her all those years ago.
1. Flight QF225

Disclaimer: I know that all the characters in this story relating to NCIS, don't belong to me, I can grow to live with that…

A/N: I would like to say that I am sorry for using the Australian connection in this story, it's the second time I've used it. But have you noticed there is always something to do with Australia in most of the episodes, like in Yankee White, the COD was venom, from a Taipan, an Aussie venom snake. In Sea Dog, there was the two Aussie bogans on the boat. And when Abby was bored she made a model of Gallipoli, which involved ANZAC soldiers. Do you see the connection…Well I did anyway, so I sort of built on that…anyway enjoy…

_Chapter one-Flight QF225_

How many years has it been?

Has many years has it been since she has been in my care?

Does she still want to call me her father?

Does she regret her decision to live with her mother?

Do I regret letting her go?

Does she still love me?

She is here now. Her plane patiently waiting on the tarmac. His heart was beating uncontrollably. This is a different feeling for him. A feeling that he was unaware of. The feeling is fear. What am I afraid of? She wanted to visit me, she must still want to hold a relationship with me. He thought to himself.

"Flight QF225: Brisbane to Washington D.C has now arrived and will be disembarking at gate 53" came the announcement over the loud speaker.

Here we go, no time like the present, he thought to himself. He searched through the mass of people arriving through the gate. He watched them find a loved one, a friend and make their way to collect their luggage. The stream was getting smaller and smaller as the passengers found their families. A man in his late 50's made his way through the gate. He appeared to be the last passenger. What, did I miss her? Has she already come through the gate? Or did she just simply never get on the plane? The thoughts raced through his head the scenarios getting worse every time a new one came into his head.

Then a medium tall teenager made her way towards the man awaiting her arrival. Her blue eyes shining with a glint of recognition after sighting the man standing before her. Her curly brown hair hanging loosely of head as she made her way towards him. She smiled flashing her perfectly straight teeth at him, God she was beautiful, he just had remembered how much, she looked exactly like her mother. The only details that differed were her eyes and her hair, which she had inherited from her father.

"Heya Dad, longtime no see"

"Ditto, how've you been kiddo?"

"Oh, you know same old, same old. You?" he sensed that she was feeling slightly uncomfortable.

"Same old, same old" he recited smiling at the fact that although uncomfortable she appeared happy to see him.

"I've missed you dad, how long has it been?...Phone calls and letters are one thing but face to face contact is another, its good to see you." She whispered, he noted the sadness in her eyes.

He had missed her too, god he had longed for her, but with work and the distance visits were nearly impossible. "Come here Soph." he said pulling her into a tight embrace, "don't you think I missed you too?"

They let go and pulled back, Sophie raised her head and a smile crossed her face but a tear fell and trickled down her cheek. Gibbs raised his hand and wiped it away, his hand remaining on her cheek. "Hey, chook what's with the tears?"

She smiled again "I'm just really happy to see you, that's all."

He wrapped her shoulders in his arm, scooped up her backpack and led her to collect her luggage.

Gibbs located his car in the short term car park, popped the boot to his blue Ford Taurus and chucked Sophie's suitcase in. She trailed behind him walking slowly taking in her surroundings, her backpack slung over her right shoulder.

"Ready to go?" he questioned pulling his car keys from his pocket.

"Yeah sure, just…looking." She made her way to the left side of the car, what she thought was the passenger door.

"Whatcha doing kiddo, you planning on driving?" he tossed at her jokingly.

"Huh, what?" she stated blankly obviously confused. She bent down to look through the window only to see the driver's steering wheel.

"That would be the drivers side, passenger's side is over here" he said pointing to the opposite side of the car.

"Oh right, sorry, you know whole different country, not used to America's backwardness."

"Backwardness? Backwardness? Is that what you Aussies call it?" Between you and your u's in words and s's instead of z's, you're the backwards ones."

"Oh really well name one other English-speaking nation that spells colour without a u?" she joked.

"Yeah well, that doesn't mean that your right now does it, to each their own."

Um, dad I hate to break this to you, the language is English, meaning it was invented by the English people, generally most rational people would tend to believe that they are right."

"Fine whatever, but I bet you don't know why you drive on the left hand side of the road?

"You mean there is actually a reason?" she questioned, curious.

"In medieval times, most people were and still are right handed. They rode their horses on the left hand side so that as an enemy passed, they could decapitate them in one single slashing blow." He finished triumphantly.

"How the hell do you know that?" she said simply gobsmaked at his little piece of trivia.

"Let's just say a very knowledgeable birdie told me." Thank god one of Ducky's rambles actually held some usefulness, he thought thinking back to the situation in autopsy that Ducky felt the need to demonstrate his abilities with a very sharp ceremonial sword.

"I'll have to take you word on that one…"she said with a questioning look on her face.

"Alright have you had enough of this little outdoor trivia session and would you like to head back to my place so you can get settled?"

"Righteo then." She said making her way to open her door.

"Hmm Hmm, other side"

"Oh yeah, right, right side is passenger side, stupid backward country." She added under her breath.

"Hey don't I think I didn't hear that." He said pointing a key at her.

As they sat down in the car, Gibbs started up the ignition and began pulling out of the airport car park. Sophie reached into her bag and pulled out a CD. She removed it from the case and slipped it into the player on the center of the dash. Gibbs' ears were struck with a loud guitar riff, beating drums and then the lyrics…

**Said a 1,2,3 take my hand a come with me cos' you look so fine and I really wanna make you mine.**

**Said you look so fine and I really wanna make you mine.**

**4,5,6 come on and get your kicks, you don't need money when you look like that,. do you honey?**

**Big black boots, long brown, she's so sweet with her cut back stare**

"Oh my god Soph, what the hell is that noise? Gibbs screamed over the loud music.

"Noise? Well that noise is none other than Jet! You gotta listen to it loud, there's no other way." She replied defensively nodding her head to the raging beat.

"Jet?"

"Oh come on dad, you can't honestly tell me you Yanks have never heard of Jet."

"Have to say no on that one".

"You've gotta be joking me" she stared at him shocked.

She began rummaging through her bag once again pulling out a whole stack of CD's. "How about Grinspoon? Killing Heidi? Spiderbait? John Butler trio? Eskimo Joe? NO? Well how about a classic, AC/DC? NO, how have you never heard of Akka Dakka? How about something old and American, hmm, what have I got? Ahh, the Eagles greatest hits?"

"Now your talking, put it in."

"Finally we have a hint of semi modern taste, geez where have you been? Next you're going to tell me you've never heard of Johnny Depp!"

"Um…well its not that I've never heard of him its just…"

"You have no idea, do you?"

"In a word, no."

"Wow I have a lot of teaching to do over the next two weeks!"


	2. Hidden talents

_Chapter 2- Hidden talents_

Gibbs led Sophie through the front door of his house and he guided her to her temporary room, it contained a single bed in the corner and a large wooden dresser. The dresser caught her eye, it was almost too extravagant for the room. It was stained a dark maroon and the wood carving was intricate and detailed, it was beautiful.

"You like?'

"Yeah I do its beautiful, were did you find it?"

"I made it." He stated simply running his hand over the carvings.

"You made it, my God, were did you find the room to make something in the tiny place"

"Aha my secrets are now your secrets, follow me" with that he moved out of the room and headed to the lounge, Sophie hurried off after him. He led her through the lounge and to a door, which when opened revealed a dark room which smelled of sawdust. He switched on the light and made his way down the wooden stairs Sophie closely in tow.

"A boat, your building a boat" she said surprised, raising her eyebrows.

"Yeah, well what did you expect, a bed head?

"Well yeah, something small, but not this, its, amazing. She said moving her hands over the skeleton of the boat. "How long has thing taken you?"

"Well up to this point its taken me about14 months, its really starting to take form."

"How often do you come down here to build?"

"Whenever I need to think, with my job that's about every night, its how I wind down."

"Wow, your easy I need good tv to do that, speaking of television what have you guys got in the way of television?"

"I don't know I don't watch the carp that's on now days, all I watch is the news channels. Find out for yourself its in the corner."

"Okay, what if I take this upstairs and hook it up in the lounge that way you can work on your boat in peace?"

"Oh, Soph you don't have to do that."

"Yeah I do, you said you come down here to think the last thing you need is me down here with the tv up loud, interrupting your train of thought."

"Alright, I'll help you carry it, although I'm afraid you'll have to connect it yourself I'm not really one for the whole technology thing."

"Thanks"

Together they carried the tv up the stairs and placed it on the coffee table in the lounge. Sophie proceeded to the back of the set and set to work on hooking up the cables. Alright that's all attached, should be all set up. And it was, she turned on the set and settled herself on the couch.

"Where did you learn to do that?

"Its really not that hard, I taught my self." She said smiling proudly

"Alright give me a yell when you want something to eat, k?

"Yep sure, you go 'think' now wont you!"

"That wasn't your reason to bring the television up here was it?"

"Well it was and it wasn't, if you haven't noticed the only seating you have down there is a metal stool, not exactly the most comfortable piece of furniture to watch tv on."

"Alright, holler if you need me."

Gibbs disappeared back to his boat and Sophie picked up the remote and got comfortable, she flicked through the channels, 'ABC, CBS, NBC, WB right okay here they name their channels whatever happened to 7, 9 and 10' she laughed to herself although in Australia they did have the ABC but it was nothing like what the Americans had it, the only decent shows on the ABC in Australia was Australian story. And that a thrilling adventure of the nations most inspirational people. The sort of stories that your teachers tape and make you watch as educational videos, thrilling…

Sophie settled on CBS, it was CSI, she had watched it before in Australia. 'What is it with acronyms in the country are they that lazy that they can't even say the full names of things?' she thought to herself. It wasn't to long until she could feel her eyelids getting heavier and after then it wasn't too long until she had drifted off to sleep.

At 11pm Gibbs emerged from the basement and made his way over to Soph on the couch he noticed that she was asleep, jet lag, probably, he scooped her up and carried her off to her room. He pulled back the covers and lay her down on the bed and tucked her in. Kissing her on her forehead and made his way to the door and switched off the light and closed the door.

Tomorrow was Saturday, he was off duty, Gibbs figured that he might as well get some rest. It had been a while since he had had a decent nights sleep and the effects of sleep deprivation were becoming evident on his face, especially under his eyes. He made his way into the lounge room and turned off all the lights making sure all of the doors were locked he made his way to his room and got into bed.


	3. Call of Duty

_Chapter 3-Call of Duty_

At 6:30 am Gibbs stood at his kitchen, staring out the window, waiting for his coffee to boil.

"Morning Dad" Sophie greeted sleepily.

"Oh hey, I didn't expect you up this early." He said spinning around to face her. "Feel like some breakfast?" he questioned "What would you like, there really isn't that much on offer." He said shrugging his shoulders.

"Do you have any bread?"

"Ah yeah there should be some in the freezer"

"Do you have a toaster?"

"Yeah, in the cupboard on the far right."

"Sweet" she said as she made her way to collect the bread and the toaster. She put the bread in the toaster. She then hurried away off to her room.

"What are you doing?"

"Getting a little something to put on the toast."

"What exactly, some special topping you have secretly brewed just for toast."

"Well not exactly, it goes great on a sanger with cheese."

"On what? What goes well on what?"

"Vegemite… On a sanger." She replied like it was the most obviously thing in the world.

"A what? What on earth is a sanger?"

"A sandwich!"

"Oh okay, a sanger now I get it." He said unsure scratching his ear.

'Alright you are honestly trying to tell me you married an Australian and you nothing about Australian slang?"

"Well I thought I did, but obviously I don't."

"Okay then lets bring you up to scratch on some okkaism with some Vegemite toast."

He didn't even have to say anything Soph could see that he was confused. "Let's make you aware of Australian culture."

"Okay hit me with some Vegemite toast." He said as he made his way to grab the toast out of the toaster and spread the margarine on the toast and then stuck his knife into the jar of the thick brown consistency known as Vegemite. He got a whole knife full and spread it over the toast, coating it heavily.

"Ah dad you might want to take it easy Vegemite is quite strong." she warned.

"I can handle it"

"Okay but don't say I didn't warn you.

Gibbs took the toast and brought the slice to his mouth taking a large bite, instantly his mouth was hit with a taste that he couldn't place, it was sour, bitter and sweet all in one. He began to chew as his face dropped and he swallowed the toast with a look of distaste on his face. He instantly turned around and took a big gulp of coffee.

"I warned you" she teased still laughing.

"Well obviously I didn't remember just how foul the taste of Vegemite is."

"You gotta take it slow, Vegemite is an acquired taste, generally less is more when dealing with Vegemite."

"Well you Aussies can have that I'll stick to coffee."

"Okay, okay, wimp, what are we doing today?"

"I am not a wimp I just don't like it, as I told you before to each their own."

"Bravo" she said clapping slowly, "I give you and A for the delivery but a D for the excuse, you gotta do a lot better than that if you want to convince me."

"Okay I will learn that for future situations. Well to your original question I though we could go to the Smithsonian museum."

"Okay cool, I'll go have a shower and get ready" she said, finishing her toast and putting the plate in the dishwasher.

Back in Gibbs car, Sophie slipped another CD into the drive. This time although the music didn't completely destroy Gibbs' eardrums, the music was soft and folky. He was ashamed to admit it, but Gibbs had found a common link between him and Sophie's taste in music, something he had never expected possible.

Sophie glanced over at her father and saw him profiling the CD drive. "Do you want me to turn it off?"

"Actually no, leave it on."

"Wow, dad I think we may have actually established an area in your mind for both modern culture and okkaism. Wow that's two hits in one." She said surprised.

"Haha, very funny smart arse. Who is it anyway?"

"Its Missy Higgins. Are you sure you actually like it? It just doesn't seem like your type of music."

"Really then what would you say would be my type of music?"

"Um…well how about…no. Um I don't know, I just didn't know you would like Missy Higgins."

"Well it seems that there is a lot you don't know about me." He said raising his eyebrows.

"Seems so" she turned away and looked out the window watching the traditional American homes fly by, she seemed to find that a common house colour was classic white… 'What the hell did he mean by that, "There seems a lot you don't know about me"?' he was the one that was too busy at work to look after me.

He interrupted her thoughts "I know what you're thinking. It wasn't just me that wanted the divorce, you mother wanted it too." He soothed

"Yeah but she wanted me to live with her, you didn't!" how the hell did he know what I was thinking?

"What? Of course I wanted you to live with me, it was your decision to go and live in Australia with your mom!" the pronunciation of the word 'mum' got her blood boiling.

"God, that's the reason, that's the reason, is it? I made the decision did I? I was four! How could I make the decision?"

"You said you wanted to live with your mother. You made the decision!"

"It didn't help, that you didn't want me did it!"

"What the hell do you mean by that, of course I wanted you! You're my daughter!" he yelled now as angry as her.

"You were too busy with work to raise a child on your own, you couldn't handle the responsibility. That was the reason for the divorce, you had a new job, you had expectations to fill and the only way to do that was to work 18 hour days. And nothing would stop you from making it to the top, especially something as small as your family!" she was now screaming at him, she knew he never wanted her, if he had to make a decision between his job and her, he would chose his job in an instant, without the slightest bit of hesitation.

"Who told you that, was it you mom, what lies is she filling your head with in my abse…'

"Its MUM! With a u, she told me the truth, and then she told me about the others!"

"What others?"

"The hussy's you married after mum!"

"It was three years after our divorce, we had both moved on."

"You said you would always be there for me, mum always has, she hasn't even dated since you pissed off. You know, raising a child as a single parent can be hard. Oh wait you wouldn't no anything about that, would you?" she said sarcastically.

"That's a bit rough don't you think, I gave her money to help with looking after you, I gave her everything you could have ever needed."

"Oh really? How about a father, I don't seem to recall having one of those for most of my life." She snarled at him.

"What did you want me to do, pack up and come running after you? Or remain celibate in decency to your mother, who no longer loved me? Seems like a set of choices that only benefit your mother, she got you! What did I get?"

"More than you think, you got freedom, a chance to move on, you got a fresh start!"

He was stunned by the harshness of her words, he could not think of a way to reply with something that wouldn't sound like a cop out. He opened his mouth to answer,

"I…" although he was interrupted by the ringing of his cell, he checked the caller ID, it was Morrow. 'Dammit' he thought just what he needed, to give her more ammunition to hate him.

"I've got to take this."

'Oh really who is it? Work? Yeah of course its work who else would call you? Especially on you fancy mobile phone, that they probably gave you at work for being the boss. Or maybe its one of you hussy wives? Oh no I heard those marriages didn't work either. What happened did you nock those bitches up and then tell them that you couldn't deal with the stress of a kid and work? And then send them halfway around the world and give them some hush money, which you thought would make them happy and keep the divorce amicable?" she paused leaving time for the words to take effect "Come on who is it?"

He ignored her and answered his phone.

"Gibbs"

"Really…"

"What's the address…?"

"Be there in 40."

"No, can't be sooner, got something to take care of."

"Alright I'll be there in 40." With that he turned the car around in the opposite direction to take Sophie back to his place where she could wait for him until he finished processing the crime scene.

"Something to take care of? I'm something to take care of? How about you just call me a piece of rubbish that you have to chuck out the window? Wouldn't that sound better?"

"That's not what I meant, you know that, how would you think my colleagues would react to the news that I have a daughter?" he winced at his choice of words.

"What? Would it tarnish your reputation? We wouldn't want to do that now would we?

"They don't know anything about me, I like to keep my personal life personal!"

"You didn't tell them about me, is that your way of pretending that I never happened?"

"I didn't tell them about you because I don't tell my colleagues anything, all they know about me was I was in the Marines. I don't want to them anything about me, I like my privacy! I thought my relationship with the people I work with would be better if they didn't know everything about me."

"Well it's a little late for that, one of them already knows your dirtiest little secret, for someone who you keep out the loop, she seems to know an awful lot about you! What is she another one of your bed buddies? How long have you been screwing her?"

"Who the hell are you talking about? Oh, Kate…"the word 'Kate' was almost inaudible.

"Oh Kate indeed, she rang last night, got quite a shock when another woman answered the phone, jealous in fact. Now why would a 'colleague' as you call her be so worried about another woman answering your phone?"

"You don't know anything about her? What right do you have to question me and my interactions. I am your father and you have no right to question me like that!" his rage returning.

"Correction, you were my father, but that's gone, a father is someone who loves his child and helps to guide them through the first stage of their life. As I said before phone calls and letters just don't quite cut it. Your not a father, you're a arsehole who thinks he gods gift to women and get away with treating them like crap and then abandon them once you get bored. You are a arsehole, you are a arsehole who I could never call my father." If Gibbs was angry, he was a little ray of sunshine compared to Sophie, she was spiting mad. The heat could almost be felt radiating off her and the stings from her sharp tongue could be felt leaving their cuts on his heart.

They pulled up at Gibbs driveway a mixture of emotions were rolling around inside him, he was mad as hell, he was hurt by what she had said, but he was also scared of her, she was red hot mad and something about her had told Gibbs not to mess with her. Another trait she had inherited from her father.

"Get out" there was the anger.

"Oh is that what you said to mum? Is that what you told her when you dumped her at the airport with a packed suitcase in one hand and a four year old in the other. Although it was nice of you to pay for the airfare!. One nice thing she can't hold against you!" You cold hearted bastard.

He had been called a bastard many times but it had never stung like that. He just stared blankly at her. "Get out"

"Oh believe me! I am, you don't have to tell me again."

With that she rose from the seat opened the door stepped onto the street, ripped the house keys from his outstretched hand, slammed the door in his face and stormed towards the house.

He sat there for a minute replaying the whole series of events that had just occurred, what she had said what had she meant by it, did she really have those feelings?

The music of the CD, brought him out of his train of thought,

**The character I've always played helped me to forget my name, but now I know.**

**So get out of my way!**

**Cos I'm not gonna be with one more casualty**

**Its been too long since I've looked after me**

**I'm not gonna be with one more casualty**

**Cos all you're giving me is pain**

**I'm not gonna be with one more casualty**

**Cos' all you see is a human bandage**

**I'm not gonna be with one more casualty**

**Cos' all you seem to do is give me pain**

**I'm not gonna be with one more casualty**


	4. The Ebbing

_Chapter 4- The ebbing_

Damage control. At least Kate had the brains not to blab what Sophie had told her to DiNozzo. But still she had to face Kate and her judgment. This was the reason that he never revealed anything remotely personal to the people he worked with. There are things that are better to keep quiet. This was one of them. He had kept it private for 15 years, why did things have to change. Kate had been acting oddly around him all day, as if showing her disappointment in him. He couldn't understand what he had done; she had made the decision to live with her mother.

He pulled into his driveway, shut off the ignition and got out of the car. He walked towards the front door locked the car over his shoulder and walked up his front steps. He reached out to turn the door handle but he hesitated. She hated him now, what could him going away to work, which was the central problem anyway do to help the situation? Nothing he could say, would change her mind in the current state she was in. he decided that it would be best to let her blow off some steam. By herself.

He opened the door quietly, dumping his keys on the table on the right side of the door. All the lights in the house were off. That seemed odd to him, the television was off as well. His concern was growing, where the hell is she? He thought to himself,

"Bedroom." He finally concluded, maybe she was tried. He made his way to her room, no sign of her. His anxiety was growing out of control. He ran from the room checking every room in the house; Lounge…no…kitchen…no…his bedroom…no…bathroom…no…finally he checked the basement…no sign of her.

She was gone, she was gone, he ran to grab his keys from the table beside the door, underneath where he had dropped his keys he found a long white envelope, marked with the name Leroy Jethro Gibbs.

He grabbed the letter and plonked himself down on the nearby couch. He opened the envelope quickly with the leatherman he drew from his belt, discarding the envelope on the seat beside him. He found a folded piece of paper, the letter was written in scrawled handwriting, like the author was in a hurry to finish.

_Dear Jethro,_

_I came here to resolve past issues with you. Those attempts failed, miserably. I regret ever bothering to make the effort. It was obviously a mistake. Don't worry, you don't have to put yourself out any longer. You can go on with you perfect life unaffected by this whole incident. Once again you can think about yourself and don't worry about the little guy. She believed that you at least had some degree of human decency in you, obviously she was wrong. By she I mean the old me, the old me that believed you had made a mistake, you had made a decision, but now you regretted your choice on that decision and maybe you were willing to make attempt to heal those old wounds. Those wounds received no healing, all they received was a brutal attack, suffered at the hands of you. _

_Goodbye, you will never have to see me again and I will never have to see you pathetic face ever again, that fact alone has given me so much satisfaction. Normally daughters would say, don't worry daddy it wasn't your fault it was all my fault, I'm sorry to hurt you... I think it's a pretty safe bet to say that this is not the case here. I do not consider myself your daughter, I would never call you daddy and this was all your fault, you narcissistic bastard. That and I would die for the pleasure to hurt you, I want to break your heart, into thousands of tiny little pieces, make you suffer the way that my mother and I suffered. Although that wouldn't be hard, all I would need would be a hammer to shatter you heart of ice._

_Farewell, you arsehole, I hope that you rot in hell._

_Sophie_

Gibbs read the last sentence. The letter dropped from his hands instantly like it was a poisonous snake and he watched it fall to the floor.

He ran to grab his keys and pull his cell from his back pocket. Shoving the letter into his back pocket. He pressed the number three on his speed dial. And he dialed the one person who would understand his situation. The one person who knew that he had a daughter. The one person who could help him find Sophie. Kate.

He explained the situation the young agent, finding it difficult to relay the information. She had run away over some silly argument, he thought that she was just blowing off some capped steam. He didn't think that she really meant it. Obviously he was wrong. He analysed the letter over and over again, on his way to meet Kate halfway. Every traffic light he read the page, trying to find some link to where she was heading.

He met Kate in a car park midway between the two's houses. She gripped him in a tight hug, a hug which Gibbs did not reciprocate. She was only trying to comfort him. But his relationship with Kate was one of the main reasons for Sophie's anger. Encouraging that relationship seemed like the worst thing he could do at that moment. Even if it was a comfort hug. He showed her the letter, she read it, then she read it again.

"She makes reference to leaving…she says that you will never see her again…"she paused.

"She's going home."

"Where's home?"

"Australia, she's going back to her mother"

"She's going to the airport" that was an obvious point but Kate said it anyway. Although Gibbs obviously had made that deduction, he had already moved to his car and began to get in. He slammed the door shut and pulled away leaving screech marks as he went.

"Alright I'll follow you then" Kate said sarcastically

Kate trailed after the speeding Gibbs, he was driving erratically like a bat out of hell. He drove like that all the way to the short term parking bay at the airport. It was remarkable that he hadn't been picked up driving like that, or Kate in fact for speeding after him.

He slammed the door shut and began running towards the terminal. It was at the security bay that Kate finally caught up to him once again.

"We'll find her Gibbs don't worry."

"What if we don't Kate, what if she gets on that plane and flies away?"

"Then you being you will get one the next one and chase after her. We'll find her Gibbs, don't worry."

"Dammit Kate, I am worried, can't you see that! Don't try and placate me with your sensitive bullshit. How would you react if she was your daughter?"

Kate was obviously shocked by his outburst, but she could understand where he was coming from. She had no idea. So she decided that it would be best if she kept quiet.

They finally made it through security and into the departure lounge. Gibbs read a flight schedule on the far wall of the terminal and found that there was a QANTAS flight departing in 45 minutes, that had to be her flight. If she was here.


	5. Discovery

_Chapter 5-Discovery_

He scanned around the terminal, analysing every face in the crowd. He saw no sign of her. It was Kate who located her. She was waiting on a bench with her small carry on suitcase and backpack. Her Discman in her ears. She was watching the World Cricket Tsunami appeal on the big screen. Kate thought it best that Gibbs approach her by himself. She stood back as he made his way over to her. He walked up to her stood directly in front of her. She did not react at all, looking straight through him at the screen as Ponting hit a $50 000 six.

"Good to see, world cricket getting behind such a great cause isn't it? Especially with the likes of Ricky Ponting smacking that white ball over the rope." He was glad that he had paid some attention to the cricket when it was on tv, he just hoped this would get her attention.

She gave no evidence that she was listening to him, how could she with those headphones in her ears, she just kept watching the screen.

"Sophie, don't you thinks its best we go home?" he said a little louder than before, this time getting straight to the point.

Still no reaction.

"Sophie, talk to me, Sophie…"he was getting frustrated with having to plead with her to talk to him.

"Sophie!"

This time she reacted.

"I'm sorry do I know you?"

"Don't pretend you don't know me, I'm your father for god's sake!"

"I'm sorry, you must be mistaken, I don't have a father." She replied bitterly

"Oh really? Don't pull that with me…your coming home with me."

"Really is that so, I hate to be the one to inform you on this fact, but I am going home. I don't know how you found me, but I am going home to someone who cares about me, you never cared about me."

"You are so predictable, just like your mother!" he said getting frustrated.

"My mother, don't you bring her into this, you know nothing about me or her."

"I know that she loved me enough to marry me."

"Yeah well certain things change don't they." she sneered "You still no nothing about me, I'll make you a deal, if you can answer these three things about me, I will come home with you and maybe, we can work something out…that suits both of us, not just you."

"Okay, as long as you promise to try and work things out."

"Question one, What is my favourite sport and what level am I at it?"

Gibbs thought about the question, but then he remembered the letter she had sent him September last year. She had sent it to him because she had just passed her level test and qualified for states. He did know things about her, more than she thought.

"Your favourite sport is Gymnastics, and you are in level 8, you passed in September."

'One out of three"

"I know more than you think…"

'Question two" She said cutting him off, "What is the name and breed of my dogs?"

This one he knew easily, he had in fact suggested the names to her mother and her family had kept the breed since before Sophie was born."

He replied confidently, " Your have Golden retrievers who's names are Ruger and Miruku. Like the guns. Gun names for a gun dogs."

He could sense the regret in Soph's eyes, she knew that he could answer these questions about her. She picked one last question that she knew that he would have no idea about, he knew nothing about modern culture."

"Question three, What is the name of my favourite Australian singer or band?"

This one he had no idea to. There had been so many. They had all sounded the same, what were their names? Air Supply? No it wasn't that, but it did have something to do with aircraft. Pilot? Carrier? No, what the hell was it…Jet, aha it was Jet, but was it her favourite? What else did she like? There was that singer that he liked, what was her name? She had the song Casualty, that was on after they had their fight, oh damn, what was it Macy Gray? No way…Marcia Hines…No…something starting with M. Missy! Missy what? Missy Hart? Missy Harling? Higgins, Missy Higgins, that had to be right!

"Missy Higgins?" he answered uncertainly

He saw the realisation in her eyes, he was right he knew it, she knew it, she had to give into his demands.

"Yes" she answered quietly "S'pose you could give me the CD back?"

"Sure I'll give it back to you on the way home"

"I'm not going in the car with you!"

"Fine if you don't want to go with me you can go with Kate, talk to her and she will tell, you that there is nothing going on between us." What he said wasn't a lie, there was nothing going on between him and Kate, but that doesn't mean that he didn't want it to.

"There isn't, but I thought…"

"You were wrong"

"I'm so sorry for that, but not for everything else, I stand by what I said."

"Okay, we can talk about that later but will you please come home now, you can ride with Kate."

He grabbed her suitcase and began to walk away. Sophie just stood there, rooted to the spot, maybe he did know some things about her, but he was still a heartless bastard. She followed him and the attractive women that appeared from the shadows to the car, not saying a word.

"Kate will drive you and I'll follow, is that okay"

Sophie didn't answer, she hated what she was doing she hated him, but she knew she was wrong about some things and she had to set them straight before she ran away home.

She jumped in the car with Kate and sat silently as she pulled out of the car park and paid the fee. With Gibbs following closely behind them.

Kate decided that it would be best, to leave Soph to her own devices. She just drove in the direction to Gibbs' house. Sophie did not say a word, she just sat there staring out the window watching the rain fall freely to the ground, it was really coming down.. Kate could sense the aura of defeat around Sophie. I mean of course she could, she made a decision, stuck up for herself only to have to back up on that decision.

'Why did I give in, this is the last thing I want, to reconcile with him. The only thing I want to do is get everything settled out and then I'm back on that plane, he cant keep me any longer. Where have I heard that before? This time he will not win I will leave with the upper hand.' She thought, almost trying to convince herself why she was still on American soil.

The car pulled to a stop at a red light at a busy intersection. Sophie redirected her gaze from looking out the side window to looking out the front window. It was around seven thirty at night and there was a very continuous flow of traffic. The red light seemed to last for ages. When finally the light changed, Kate shifted the car into gear and began to drive away. She had traveled about four and a half metres into the centre of the intersection when Sophie realised that an oncoming car in the lanes traveling across the intersection had failed to stop when their light changed.

"Kate! Look out!" Sophie screamed madly pointing at the oncoming car coming straight towards the passenger side of the car.

Kate reacted quickly, trying to speed the car through the remainder of the intersection. She had almost made it to safety beyond the white line. It was approaching quickly, but so was the other car, the other driver realised the situation and slammed on the brakes.

But it was too late. The tyre's of the other car had no traction and the car began to skid across the road in the wet conditions. The other car rotated 45 degrees so that it was horizontal with Kate's car. The last thing Sophie saw before the other car collided with her was the look of terror in the other drivers face.

Gibbs was behind Kate's car he saw the oncoming car, he saw Kate's car, he saw the inevitable. And all he could do was watch.


	6. The Conclusion

_Chapter 6- The conclusion_

The other car slammed into the passenger side of Kate's car. With a sickening crunch the two cars were interlocked, as the wreckage traveled sideways. The crumple zones of were both completely crushed. The width of the two cars was that of only one.

Gibbs screeched his car to a halt in the intersection. Jumping out of his car and rushing to the only access point of the two cars, Kate's driver window. He rushed up to her window and with all of his strength ripped open the drivers door. Kate fell out into his arms, there was a large gash on her head where her head had come into contact with window, there was shattered glass all around him.

"Kate, Kate can you here me?"

No response, he hurriedly felt for a pulse there was a dull thud evident under his index and middle finger, Kate was alive. He lay her down outstretched on the bitumen. He reached for his cell phone and dialed 911. "I need a bus, there has been an accident at the intersection of Church Rd and Mott St, three casualties…Jethro Gibbs…look just come, I know that one is alive but I don't know about the others…" with that he ended the call.

He climbed onto the drivers seat, rushing to find out about Sophie. Her side of the car was completely destroyed. The driver of the other car, had been propelled by force through his mirror and was laying over Sophie's lap. His head bleeding profusely from a wound matted with broken glass. Sophie's upper torso and head had been slammed down to the left and was resting on the handbrake in between the passenger and drivers seat. He hurriedly moved his fingers to under her chin.

Nothing he felt nothing.

No sign of a pulse.

Nothing.

She wasn't breathing.

He tried to free her from the wreckage but she was too intertwined with mangled metal and glass. The right side and her thick brown hair was matted with blood. He pulled at her shoulders again in another futile attempt to free her, with his tugging movement he heard a easily audible crack of bone coming from her hip. She was trapped. Not only that she wasn't breathing.

Gibbs proceeded to hold her nose and breath into her mouth, he attempted CPR, but the position she was in made it impossible. He felt useless. His own child was trapped and their was nothing he could do.

He continued breathing for her for a good twenty minutes. It wasn't until then did he hear the blaring sirens of the ambulances. He was pulled from the vehicle, by an ambo, asking him if he was hurt.

"No my daughter, she's hurt, she's not breathing…" it all felt surreal, his world was running in slow motion. " SOPHIE! SOPHIE! You gotta help her, I can't lose her again!" Two ambulance officers hurried to work on Sophie and the driver of the other car as another pair of officers lifted Kate onto a gurney and led her to an ambulance.

He was led to the back of an unoccupied ambulance. He waited there for the details on Sophie. An officer was approaching him.

"Mr?"

"Gibbs, Jethro Gibbs."

"Mr Gibbs I am sorry to have to be the one to inform you, your daughter, I'm sorry but we couldn't help her, she sustained critical head injuries, we believe she died on impact, which means that she wouldn't have suffered."

"Sophie? No, not Sophie, you have to help her, what didn't you do? There must be something you can do." He screamed at the ambo.

"I'm sorry there was nothing we could do, there was nothing anyone could have done. The injury to her brain and cerebellum shut down her central nervous system and effectively her whole body, I'm sorry, her heart stopped, we did all we could"

"Sometimes your best, just isn't good enough is it!" he sneered at the ambo, he knew it wasn't his fault, but he needed to blame someone

"The other driver the one that hit them, what about him?" Gibbs continued.

"We also lost him, he practically suffered from the same injuries as your daughter, but the other driver, the driver of the car your daughter was in should recover, she has suffered a concussion and some minor lacerations. She's on her way to hospital, she should make a full recovery."

'He's dead, well there seems to be some justice in the world, not much but just enough."

"Is there anyone I can call for you?"

"No, I'll be fine I just want to go home." This couldn't be further from the truth, but he did want to be alone, to try to grasp the events of the evening.

"We will have someone drive you."

"That's not necessary I can look after myself."

"You shouldn't be driving after this…"

Gibbs didn't stick around to listen he pulled the car keys from his pocket and made his way to his car. Shoved the keys in the ignition. Pulled away heading toward the one place that would make him feel better, home and a deep bottle of bourbon.


	7. Aftermath

_Chapter 7-Aftermath_

Gibbs sat on his couch drinking himself into oblivion. He thought about the past events of the day. How they had gone from being father and daughter trying to pick up the pieces.

To raging enemies throwing verbal heartbreakers at one another.

To losing her, to his own mouth and bastard ways.

To finding her and proving to her that her was not the complete narcissistic arsehole she had come to believe he was.

To losing her again, this time forever. This time it was definite. He would never see her ever again. He would never hear her laugh, never see her smile, never hear that accent again. Furthermore he would never get the chance to apologise to her face. Never get the chance to tell her the truth.

For the second time in his adult life he was not ashamed to shed a tear, more than a tear, several hundred. He had cried when Sophie was born, she was a miracle, it had taken 7 years of IVF to get her. He and her mother had cried freely with tears of joy the day she came into the world. She had been a miracle, she would help him appreciate life, help him understand other peoples feelings and needs. She would be his wisdom. Sophie. Sophie means wisdom. His shining star.

This time although the tears he cried were not tears of joy, they were tears of sorrow. He rose from the couch and into Sophie's makeshift room and recovered the backpack that he had been given at the scene of the accident. She had left it in the backseat of the car on the drivers side, that way it was unharmed. He rummaged through her back in search of one thing. Her favourite CD. He pulled out the Missy Higgins case. Carried the white case to the lounge room, removed the CD and slipped into the CD player.

He sat back down on the couch and with the remote he turned the stereo on. He decided that he would start from where he left off, he skipped through to track 11, the Sound of White…the music began to play calming him, making him think of Sophie…

_Like a freeze dried rose, you will never be what you were, what you were to me, in memory, but if I listen to the dark, you'll embrace me like a star, envelope me, envelope me…_

_If things get real for me down here, promise to take me to before you went away-if only for a day. If things get real for me down here, promise to take me back to the tune we played before you went away._

_And if I listen to the sound of white,_

_Sometimes I hear your smile and breathe your light,_

_If I listen to the sound of white._

_You're my mystery, one mystery, my mystery, one mystery_

_My silence solidifies until that hollow void erases you, erases you so I can't feel at all._

_But if I never feel again, at least that nothingness will end the painful dream of you and me._

_If things get real for me down here, promise to take me to before you went away-if only for a day. If things get real for me down here, promise to take me back to the tune we played before you went away._

Gibbs hummed along to the tune, and when the words returned, through a strained voice he sung along…

"_And if I listen to the sound of white,_

_Sometimes I hear your smile and breathe your light,_

_If I listen to the sound of white."_

Finis


End file.
